Yamaha Motorcycles

About Yamaha

Yamaha Motor Company Limited is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation.

Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized vehicles on July 1, 1955. The company's intensive research into metal alloys for use in acoustic pianos had given Yamaha wide knowledge of the making of lightweight, yet sturdy and reliable metal constructions. This knowledge was easily applied to the making of metal frames and motor parts for motorcycles. Yamaha Motor produces motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, marine engines including outboards, automobile engines, personal watercraft and snowmobiles.

The Yamaha corporate logo is composed of three tuning forks placed on top of each other in a triangular pattern. These were piano maker instruments.

Yamaha's first motorcycle was the 1 YA-1, which had a 125 cc, single-cylinder two-stroke engine. It was launched in February 1955 and the bike won its first race, the Mount Fuji Ascent Race, in July 1955. Yamaha continued producing two-stroke engines until it launched the XS-1 in 1969, with a 650 cc two-cylinder four-stroke engine, using expertise that it gained doing engine development work for Toyota. In 1998 Yamaha marketed a revolutionary 1000cc four cylinder road bike called the YZF 'R1', this model introduced a new style of gearbox design which shortened the overall length of the motor/gearbox case, thereby allowing a more compact unit. This, in turn allowed the motor to be placed in the frame far enough forward to compliment good handling in a short wheel-based frame, a revolutionary step forward in motorcycle design In 1979, the XT500 won the first Paris-Dakar Rally.

In 1995, Yamaha announced the creation of Star Motorcycles, a new brand name for its cruiser series of motorcycles in the American market. In other markets, Star motorcycles are sold under the Yamaha brand.

Today, Yamaha produces scooters from 50 to 500 cc, and a range of motorcycles from 50 to 1,900 cc, including cruiser, sport touring, sport, dual-sport, and off-road.

In motorcycle racing Yamaha has won 36 world championships, including 3 in MotoGP and 9 in the preceding 500 cc two-stroke class, and 1 in World Superbike. Yamaha riders include Giacomo Agostini, Bob Hannah, Heikki Mikkola, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Jeremy McGrath, Stefan Merriman, Phil Read, Chad Reed, Ben Spies, James Stewart and currently Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

The Yamaha YZ450F won the AMA Supercross Championship two years in a row, in 2008 with Chad Reed, and 2009 James Stewart. Yamaha was the first to build a production monoshock motocross bike (1975 for 250 and 400, 1976 for 125) and one of the first to have a water-cooled motocross production bike (1977 in works bikes, 1981 in off-the-shelf bikes).

Since 1962, Yamaha made production road racing Grand Prix motorcycles that any licensed road racer could purchase. In 1970, non-factory privateer teams dominated the 250 cc World Championship with Great Britain's Rodney Gould winning the title on a Yamaha TD2.

Yamaha also sponsors several professional ATV riders in several areas of racing, such as cross country racing and motocross. Yamaha has had success in cross country with their YFZ450, ridden by Bill Ballance, winning 9 straight titles since 2000. Yamaha's other major rider, Traci Cecco, has ridden the YFZ450 to 7 titles, with the first in 2000. In ATV motocross, Yamaha has had success with Dustin Nelson and Pat Brown, both who race the YFZ450. Pat Brown's best season was a 3rd place title in 2007, while Nelson has had two 1st place titles in the Yamaha/ITP Quadcross, one in 2006 and the other in 2008.

Yamaha produced Formula One engines from 1989 to 1997, initially for the Zakspeed team, in 1991 for the Brabham BT60Y, in 1992 for the Jordan 192, from 1993 to 1996 for Tyrrell, and in 1997 for the Arrows A18. These never won a race, but drivers including Damon Hill, Ukyo Katayama, Mark Blundell and Andrea de Cesaris scored some acceptable results with them.

Moto blog

2021 Yamaha MT-09 SP Review - Street and Track

One of our favorite bikes gets even better. Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield When you see Yamaha’s MT-09, your gaze doesn’t go away very quickly. You end up staring at it.

Yamaha Tenere 700 Raid Designs Preview Production Model

Yamaha has filed designs that reveal what the production version of the Ténéré 700 Raid will look like. The Ténéré 700 Raid was shown at EICMA in prototype form as an even more off-road capable version of the Ténéré 700. While the prototype was essentially a Ténéré 700 modified with Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing (GYTR) performance parts, the designed filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office appears ready for series production.

Yamaha R6 to Continue Racing in Supersport Next Generation Category

No R6 replacement for the near future Last month, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) provided the first look at the new “ Supersport Next Generation” models that will redefine middleweight racing class. Starting with the 2022 season, the World Supersport class (and their equivalents in various national racing series such as MotoAmerica) will add new models such as the Ducati Panigale V2, MV Agusta F3 800, MV Agusta F3 Superveloce, Triumph Street Triple RS, Suzuki GSX-R750, and the 636cc Kawasaki ZX-6R. The primarily 600cc models that previously represented the class will continue for one more season, before the Supersport Next Generation models take over completely in 2023.

Most Anticipated First Rides Of 2022

A look forward to the year (and rides) to come You’ve read our weeks long tribute to 2021 in the form of the MO Best Of awards. You’ve had your chance to debate the validity of our selection of the Harley-Davidson Pan America as the Motorcycle of the Year. Now that 2021 is almost completely in our rear view mirrors, it’s time to shift our gaze to the future.

Yamaha Tenere 700 Raid Prototype First Look

Return to sender Well the seat was a little high, at 34.6 inches, but that didn’t stop the Yamaha Ténéré 700 from doing very well in last summer’s blockbuster middleweight ADV comparison. Keeping it simple and keeping the weight down was a great recipe for success, and now Yamaha is fixin’ to take it to the next level with a Ténéré 700 Raid, for which this machine it showed at EICMA serves as prototype. Photo by Ryan Adams from Yamaha’s booth at EICMA.

Yamaha Announces MT-10 And MT-10 SP For 2022

This news should come as a surprise to nobody, but it’s still equally as exciting to finally get the official confirmation: Yamaha is bringing an updated MT-10 to the US. Maybe more exciting is the announcement that Yamaha is also bringing an MT-10 SP here as well. We reported earlier this month that a new MT-10 was coming, but at the time, the report was only confirmed for Europe.

2022 Yamaha MT-10 Announced for Europe

Fast Facts More mid-range torque New intake and exhaust Six-axis IMU Updated ergonomics Refreshed styling, updated engine and six-axis IMU Yamaha Motor Europe announced a redesigned MT-10 for 2022, updating the engine to meet Euro 5 and adding a six-axis Inertial Measurement Unit. As of this writing, the 2022 MT-10 has not been confirmed for the U.S., but we expect that will happen soon. Visually, Yamaha gave the MT-10 a styling refresh, giving it a new, less-angular face.

2022 Yamaha XSR900 Announced for Europe

Fast Facts Based on recently-updated MT-09 New 889cc CP3 engine and Deltabox frame Six-axis IMU ’80s-inspired graphics A new look for retro roadster Yamaha Motor Europe announced a new XSR900 model, giving the retro-styled roadster updates similar to the changes received by the MT-09 last year. That includes an 889cc inline Triple and new Deltabox-style frame. As of this writing, the new 2022 Yamaha XSR900 has not been announced for the U.S., but we expect to get news on that front soon.

What's The 2022 Yamaha R7 Like To Ride On The Street?

The R7 is a barrel of laughs on track, but is it any good on the roads? Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield | Videos by Paisley Kerr and Sean Matic I make it a point to tell everyone who is willing to listen (and even some who aren’t) how much fun the new Yamaha R7 is. While most people get up in arms about the name of the bike, I’m over here having a blast actually riding the thing, preferably at a race track.

Church of MO: 2011 Yamaha FZ8 Review – First Ride

What? Where was I ten years ago when the FZ8 got here? O, that’s right, Cycle World.